


A father's love can't be erased

by Anonymous



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Cal still loves Daisy, Daisy had two dads, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Father's Day, Fluff and Angst, I cried writing this, Multi, Other, Sad Ending, dad phil
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-21
Updated: 2020-06-21
Packaged: 2021-03-04 05:35:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 2,382
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24844684
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/
Summary: While we all know the story of Phil Coulson and how he was a father to Daisy, we forget that out there, Cal Johnson was living life as a vet, happy and oblivious.This is the four times that Daisy visited her birth father; once in each season.Sometimes she just needed to talk to somebody.(I cried writing this. It's got a sad ending, you guys. But this is one of the fics I'm most proud of, so at least give chapter one a try, please? <3)
Relationships: Melinda May & Skye | Daisy Johnson, Phil Coulson & Skye | Daisy Johnson, Phil Coulson/Melinda May, Skye | Daisy Johnson & Cal Zabo
Comments: 25
Kudos: 97
Collections: Anonymous





	1. Season 3

**Author's Note:**

> HAPPY ASSISTANT BIRTHGIVER DAY!!!
> 
> THIS FIC IS FOR MY AMAZING DAD WHO'S MY BIGGEST SUPPORTER WHEN IT COMES TO AO3 <3

She avoided him for almost a year.

She didn’t want her interactions with him to spark a painful memory; she wanted him to move on.

And yet… 

Once May was gone, she had a hole in her heart that complained when she dreamt of horrors she couldn’t quite put into words. She missed her mother figure. She still had Coulson, which was great, but then he became infatuated with the enemy, Rosalind Price. Daisy avoided him for a couple of days, frustrated that he was letting his guard down.

One day, she felt so lonely that she left to go order tea at her and May’s favorite teashop. After chilling there for a while, she meant to head back to base, but her feet found themselves standing in front of Winslow’s Veterinary Clinic. She stood there for a solid 5 minutes before she took a deep breath and walked inside.

A jingle when the door opened alerted a petite secretary in the front to look up with a warm smile. “Are you here to pick up?”

“Uh, no,” she stuttered, suddenly deciding this was a bad idea. She turned to leave, but a warm “Hello!” stopped her in her tracks. She plastered a smile on and turned around to meet the very sane blue eyes of her father.

“Hi,” she said, with a little nervous wave. He cocked his head to the side as he studied her, then brightened. “I know you! You were there when we first opened. Rose? Or, uh, Petunia? No…”

“Daisy,” she supplied.

He smiled, a warm, kind smile that made Daisy’s heart ache. “That’s right. Are you here for an appointment?”

Daisy stared at him, trying to come up with an excuse to spend some time with him; see how he was doing.

“I’m thinking of becoming a vet,” she blurted out. 

He raised his eyebrows in delight. “Oh?”

“Yeah; and, I was wondering if I could maybe get a tour? See what it looks like, learn some things about how it works. I’m still on the fence whether I want to do this in life,” she lied on the spot.

“Oh, sure, sure! C’mon,” he smiled. “I’m Calvin Winslow, by the way.” He stuck out his hand and she shook it shyly. 

He led her through the lobby and the dog gate and into a long spacious hallway. “So, what made you want to become a vet?”

She shrugged. “I like… animals,” she cringed, knowing she sounded like every fourth grader ever.

“Me too, me too!” He grinned encouragingly. He was very peppy, like a puppy, and it made Daisy smile at how happy he was. 

Cal led her into a room full of puppies that looked a lot like a playroom, filled with little dog playgrounds and slides and toys. He leaned down to pick up a little wriggling one with its leg bandaged. “This one’s a stray,” he explained as the puppy licked his cheek. “20 weeks old. Her name’s Daisy too! I named her, actually; I guess I subconsciously remembered you. It’s a lovely name, by the way.”

Daisy grinned at the little ball of fluff. “Thank you.” He set the puppy down and she shot off like a rocket to go play.

He led her into the next room, which was similarly built to the first but had large glass rooms along the walls filled with cats and kittens. Daisy gushed at a little grey and white one who was meowing at the glass. “He’s adorable,” she told Cal.

He nodded eagerly. “His name is Gordon!” Daisy blinked, worried he’d remembered something, but he just cooed at the kitten and then kept moving out of the room and into a loud one with birds and a couple of snakes and lizards in organized tanks and racks on the ceiling. 

She was trying to figure out how to ask about his personal life without sounding too weird when he told her, “We can always use an intern. My partner, both in the vet business and at home, haha, specializes in diseases in the animals; she’d love to have a helper. I’ve got one, but I need him too often for her to use. You can get some hands-on experience.” He chuckled.

“Maybe not… now,” she smiled, happy that he’d found someone new to love. 

“Ah, well, maybe next year.” As he showed her around the whole space, she smiled at the hula dancer on his desk once they reached his office. “I have one like that.” She pointed out.

He smiled. “Really? Huh. That’s nice!” 

She nodded. 

Once they reached the end of the tour, she caught him studying her. “You know, you should visit again.” he said with a little smile. “If you ever need anyone to talk to, or a job, I’m here. You seem like a sweet girl; very trustworthy. My partner would like you.” Daisy nodded, smiling; genuinely considering taking him up on the offer. “Maybe,” she agreed.

After saying their goodbyes, Daisy had a little spring in her step when she returned to the base that night.


	2. Season 4

While she was on the run, she visited Cal a second time. It was early, when she was still deeply mourning Lincoln. The door, once again, jingled loudly. Cal smiled at her entrance, then gave a puzzled look at her appearance. She was wearing a more grunge look this time, and she’d dyed her hair a jet black and straightened it. Plus, her eyeshadow made her look like a raccoon.

“Hi,” she said hesitantly. “Um. I just- wanted to talk to someone.” He nodded, worry evident on his face, and led her to his office. She sat down in the comfy chair facing his desk and messed with a business card she’d found in the lobby.

“You’re not trying to hurt yourself, are you?” He asked. She looked up in surprise. 

“No,” she lied. “I lost… my family,” she said, knowing it was basically the truth. “I left them. And I needed someone to talk to.”

He nodded and leaned back in his chair. “Go ahead.”

Daisy sighed. “I lost… a guy I was in love with.” She ripped her metaphorical bandaid off.

“To death?” He asked, sympathy in his eyes. 

She let out a shaky breath. “Yeah,” she answered quietly. “And it was kinda my fault,” she whispered.

“I’m sure it wasn’t. Listen, Daisy.” Cal regarded her with kind eyes. “I was in a car accident a couple of years ago. Forgot everything; everything I’d ever known. My wife and daughter, Jiaying and Skye, died in the crash as well. I spent months trying to remember what happened that night, but I couldn’t. I wasn’t able to move on until I told myself that the crash wasn’t my fault.”

She bowed her head, a tear escaping down her cheek. “I’m sorry,” she said sincerely. “I’m really sorry you had to go through that.”

“But listen- once I moved on, I reconnected with my sister. Apparently she hadn’t seen me in 30 years. And I got a wife.” He showed her a hand with a ring on it, which made her smile. “And I got my own clinic. So listen- You can’t blame yourself for it; it’ll only keep you stuck in the past. You have to let him go,” he said gently. “Move on.”

Daisy sniffed, then her phone pinged. She recognized the sound that said her face had been caught by security cameras and that SHIELD was coming. More importantly, Coulson. She wiped her eyes and stood up to leave. “Thanks,” she told Cal honestly. “I have to go.”

He smiled a little. “I hope you find what you need,” he told her. “Remember- you’re always welcome here if you need me to talk you off a ledge; or just talk. Or a job.”

She pursed her lips and mustered a small smile at the offer. She nodded, then hastily made her way out of the clinic and managed to get a couple of blocks down the street before she heard a van pull up to the clinic.


	3. Season 5

When she went out to collect her mother’s body to save Coulson, she once again found herself at the clinic. It was evening, and the place was getting ready to close; but she didn’t feel right. She had recovered her mother’s body, it only made sense to visit him. She wore sunglasses and a hoodie, and ducked into the clinic with her duffle; hoping that Cal hadn’t seen the news.

He had.

At the familiar jingle, he came out of his office and then stopped dead and gaped at her as she pulled off the glasses slowly. “Hi,” she said quietly. He took a couple of steps towards her.

“Is- is it true?” was all he said.

“I haven’t done anything wrong,” she told him truthfully. He regarded her for a moment, then sighed, waving her into his office.

“So you’re Quake. I remember seeing you on the news with the inhuman director of SHIELD,” he told her warily.

“Yeah,” she sighed. “I’m sorry I never told you.”

“Why’d you want a tour of the clinic? Don’t- don't lie.”

“Honestly? I knew you. Before your accident, and I wanted to check up on you. Make sure you were doing okay.”

He nodded, sighing. “I knew it. I always suspected, ever since that first day you stood outside and told me your name was Daisy.” He gave her a small smile. “So what were we? Friends?”

She pursed her lips and looked at the ground. “Yeah. Good ones; though we had our rocky moments.” 

“So why didn’t you try to reconnect?”

“We ended on a not-so-good note.” She told him truthfully. “I was with SHIELD, and I didn’t want to get you mixed up in it.”

He nodded, twiddling his thumbs. “You look older,” he told her unexpectedly. “More mature; sadder, I guess. Than the first time you came.” 

She shrugged slowly. “Well, that’s what happens when you’re falsely labeled a national fugitive.”

Cal leaned forward in his seat. “I take it you went back to your family after our last chat?” 

She smiled at that. “Yeah. Not even on purpose, too. But I found them.” 

He smiled. “That’s good, that’s- that’s good.”

She made to get up and leave, but he caught her wrist. “Stay safe, Daisy,” was all he said. Her heart hurt, knowing that in a couple of days there was a good chance he and his wife and his sister and his clinic would crack and die along with the planet. She just nodded, forcing a smile, and then left the bright lobby to go back to the dreary world of the lighthouse.


	4. Season 6

She visited Cal again, right before she was set to go to space.

Coulson had been dead for 9 days, according to May.

She entered in the early chilly morning, feeling numb. The same familiar jingle played, sounding far away, as she entered for what she somehow got the feeling would be the last time.

He greeted her with a wide smile. “I’m glad you’re okay, and not a fugitive anymore.” he told her as she automatically followed him into his office. She smiled faintly. 

“I like your hair,” he complemented.

“Thank you.” She sat down in the same comfy chair.  “I lost my dad,” she blurted out. 

Cal froze. “Oh, Daisy, I’m so sorry.”

She just buried her face into her hands.

“Would you like some tea?” he asked. She nodded into her hands, feeling his vibrations as he moved around his office to a water boiler.  She tried to think of a way to explain why she was so mad at Coulson.  “He signed a DNR,” she told Cal miserably. It’s basically what he did. “We could’ve saved him.” she gritted her teeth. 

He sighed, then sat down across from her, pushing a mug across his desk and into her arms length.

“Maybe it was his time,” he said simply.

“But it wasn’t.” she responded sharply. “We still loved him, still  _ needed _ him…” she trailed off. “Maybe he was ready, but we weren’t.”

He nodded. “Would you like to adopt a puppy? They help deal with grief. I’d give ‘em to you free of charge.” 

She gave him a watery smile at his kindness but shook her head. She wouldn’t be able to take it into space, and she had a feeling she’d be gone for a long time. “Thank you, though.” she sniffled. 

She checked her watch, realizing the Zephyr was due to leave in 4 hours. She stood up, sighing, as she tried to memorize every wrinkle and crevice of his face. She traced his facial features with her eyes, knowing this would be the last time she’d see him. 

Somehow.

“I have to go,” she told him. “I’m sorry. I hope you and your wife are well.” She made a move to leave, then turned around and ran into his arms. He reciprocated, surprised, as Daisy fit perfectly into his arms, then they let each other go reluctantly. 

“Goodbye.” Daisy said simply, and she walked out of the office doors and listened to the little jingle as she stepped out into the streets of LA, leaving her cold, untouched tea behind.

.o.

2 months later, while Daisy was on the planet Yongshi, Calvin Winslow (Johnson) died from a heart attack at the age of 62; a result of all of the serums he used to test when he was younger.

He was buried alongside his wife, Jiaying, at the insistence of May, who knew Daisy would want them together.

Daisy knew. She knew when it happened, even in deep space. And she mourned how little time with a normal and happy life he was able to have before karma caught up.

She visited both of her dads’ graves once a month and on July 2nd and July 8; year after year.

She made sure to tell her children of both their adoptive and blood-related grandpas' life, but only explained about Cal after his TAHITI protocol; because that was the real Cal. That was her father: The fun loving, kind, and caring veterinarian that tried to save every animal that walked through his door with the jingle.

That was her Cal.


End file.
